


Silent Night

by anythingbutplatonic



Category: Emmerdale
Genre: Angst, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Sadness, Semi-naked snuggles, Wedding 1.0, Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-02
Updated: 2019-04-02
Packaged: 2020-01-01 03:47:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,224
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18328010
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anythingbutplatonic/pseuds/anythingbutplatonic
Summary: “Aaron.” His name was a frantic whisper on Robert’s lips, a prayer repeated over and over again. “Aaron. Aaron. I love you.”Above him, Aaron shook his head. “Don’t. Don’t get all - teary on me now, okay?” He pleaded, his voice thick. “You don’t wanna get tear stains on your suit, do ya?”“Don’t care,” Robert murmured, his voice muffled by the soft kisses he was placing on Aaron’s throat, his jaw, the soft curve of his ear. It sent a shiver down his spine, his fingertips warming, his scalp tingling with emerging pleasure. “Don’t care, Aaron. Just wanna love you so much.”





	Silent Night

They trailed back into the pub sometime later, their fingers curled tightly around each other. After the cold of the night air, the heat of the bar was like a warm embrace, but the raucous celebrations had become a little too much; the decorations too lurid, the music too loud, and the staccato beat of Faith’s heels clacking on the floor in a haphazard dance like a hammer against their skulls. Aaron closed his eyes against the noise, and Robert’s hand, warm and secure in his, squeezed his fingers tighter. He instinctively moved closer to him, close enough to feel his soft breaths against his temple, and Aaron could smell beer and frigid air and the too-posh-for-a-Dingle expensive cologne Robert liked to use. That his  _husband_  liked to use. 

He felt like he was kicking against a roaring current in the middle of the ocean, and Robert was the only thing keeping him afloat.

Robert, and the shining silver wedding band he wore on his left hand, the one that matched  _his husband’s_.

Because that was what really mattered, wasn’t it? Nothing else. Just them. 

When his mum saw them, she turned, throwing her arms up in the air, her mouth opening on a shriek of champagne-fuelled delight - but she stopped as soon as she took in Aaron’s blotchy cheeks and Robert’s red-rimmed eyes. An expression of understanding crossed Chas’s face, and she tottered over in bare feet with a sad smile to press a wet, wine-sticky kiss to both their cheeks, murmuring “Love you two idiots so much.”

“Especially you,” she said to Aaron, hugging him with one arm as best she could with Robert still attached to him. She smelled like alcohol and flowers, something sweet and mother-like that made Aaron’s throat tighten uncomfortably. “My  _little boy_. So proud of you.”

Aaron swallowed, his hands shaking. “Thanks, mum. Make sure you, um, drink some water later before you go to bed, yeah?”

“O _kaaaay_ ,” she agreed, hiccuping slightly at the end of the word. She pointed one sharp-nailed finger at Robert and leaned in very close to him, swaying on the spot. “Look after him, or I will feed your heart to Belle’s pigs. You’ve been warned.”

And then she stumbled off, laughing to herself, and if the image of his mum being so  _happy_  and carefree hadn’t made Aaron’s heart seize before, it did now. He felt the edges of panic rise in is chest, slow and sticky like treacle, and Robert must have felt it or sensed it somehow because he was silently leading Aaron back through the bar, through to the back room, exchanging a look with Charity that Aaron missed because he was too focused on the fact that they had so few hours left now of their special day, their  _last_  day, before everything changed for the next weeks or months or….

And then the door closed, shutting off the noise of the bar, and Robert was leading them through the second door that led to the back room where the lights were off and everything was silent, and Aaron hadn’t even realized his breaths were coming in wizened gasps until Robert’s strong, gentle hands were on his chest, loosening his tie and opening the top button, the second button, the frozen tip of his nose nuzzling at the skin exposed at his collar and his warm breath bringing Aaron back into the room and out of his own head. In-between, Robert had switched on one of the lamps, casting a warm glow over the two of them.

“ _Aaron.”_  His name was a frantic whisper on Robert’s lips, a prayer repeated over and over again. “ _Aaron. Aaron. I love you.”_

Above him, Aaron shook his head. “Don’t. Don’t get all - teary on me now, okay?” He pleaded, his voice thick. “You don’t wanna get tear stains on your suit, do ya?”

“Don’t care,” Robert murmured, his voice muffled by the soft kisses he was placing on Aaron’s throat, his jaw, the soft curve of his ear. It sent a shiver down his spine, his fingertips warming, his scalp tingling with emerging pleasure. “Don’t  _care_ , Aaron. Just wanna love you so much.”

“You  _married_  me, Rob,” Aaron replied, his fingers stroking the tufts of hair at the back of Robert’s head. “You’ve shown me you love me more than enough.  _I know_.”

But Robert disagreed, shaking his head. His lips found Aaron’s temple, his cheekbone, the bridge of his nose. “It’s not enough. It’ll never, ever be enough.”

“Then ask me,” Aaron said quietly, letting their foreheads touch. He could see the unshed tears sparkling on Robert’s long lashes, the wetness of his eyes that, when he was this close, looked more green than blue and flecked with browns and golds and ambers. He could see the pattern of freckles across his nose and cheeks. 

Robert’s brow furrowed in confusion. “Ask you what?”

His throat worked, hard, as he struggled to find the words. “What I need.”

“Okay. Okay,” Robert nodded, his lips finding the sensitive skin of Aaron’s brow, under his eyes - where there were dark circles forming - and then pressing a gentle kiss to each of his closed eyelids. “And what do you need, my husband, Aaron Dingle?”

The answer was immediate, honest, and truthful. “You. I want you. And I want ya to just - hold me, for a little while. Please.”

“Of course. Of course, Aaron. I’m not going anywhere.”

He wordlessly led him to the sofa, where shaking hands peeled off each other’s clothes in-between soft kisses; Robert carefully draped their suit jackets over the back of the cushions, followed by their shirts and ties, and finally their trousers folded in a neat little pile. It made Aaron bite back a smile, knowing that Robert was a stickler for neatness and very meticulous about his clothes; but then they were both stripped down to their underwear, and Robert’s hands were on Aaron’s bare shoulders, guiding him down to lie on top of him, and he could do nothing but give in to the embrace. It was warm and inviting, Robert’s body strong and lithe underneath him, a secure foundation amidst the chaos that was….well,  _everything_.

Tucked up under Robert’s arm with his head pillowed on his chest, throwing one leg over his new husband’s hip to press their bodies flush together, Aaron finally let out a happy, content sigh. Reaching up above him, Robert pulled down his suit jacket - he knew it was Robert’s, because the sleeves were too long and the shoulders too wide  - and draped it over Aaron’s shoulders, the extra weight of the thick material providing an added layer of comfort he desperately needed. He rubbed his back in slow, steady circles, his lips pressed to Aaron’s forehead, a permanent, never-ending kiss. 

A shrill scream of laughter reached them from behind the closed doors of the pub, which sounded a lot like Charity, followed by a cackle that Aaron  _definitely_  knew was his mum - but it wasn’t enough to disturb their peaceful rest in each other’s arms. 

The day had been long, emotions had run high, and tomorrow would come eventually with its own tests and challenges. For now, there was only silence, each other,  and the gleam of their matching wedding rings shining in the light of the moon. 

**Author's Note:**

> originally written feb 21st 2019


End file.
